1Copyright 2010 McGraw-Hill Companies

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What Is Conformity?

Change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group pressureThree types of conformity

Compliance Obedience Acceptance

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What Are the Classic Conformity and Obedience Studies?Sherif’s Studies of

Norm Formation Used autokinetic

phenomenon then asked groups of men to determine how much the point of light had moved – the responses of the men changed markedly The point of light

never moved

Figure 6.1

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What Are the Classic Conformity and Obedience Studies?Sherif’s Studies of Norm Formation

Suggestibility Contagious yawning Comedy laugh tracks Mood linkage Chameleon effect “Werther effect” Mass delusions

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What Are the Classic Conformity and Obedience Studies?Asch’s Studies of

Group PressurePerceptual judgment

experimentSix confederates

gave incorrect answers to see if participant would agree even if he knew it was the incorrect answer

Figure 6.3

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What Are the Classic Conformity and Obedience Studies?Milgram’s Obedience

ExperimentsTested what happens

when the demands of authority lash with the demands of conscience Teacher “shocks”

learner at the insistence of experimenter

65 percent of participants continued beyond expectations

Figure 6.4

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What Are the Classic Conformity and Obedience Studies?What Breeds Obedience?

Victim’s distance or depersonalizationCloseness and legitimacy of the authority Institutional authorityLiberating effects of group influence

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What Are the Classic Conformity and Obedience Studies?Reflections on the Classic Studies

Behavior and attitudes are mutually reinforcing A small act of evil to foster the attitude that leads to

a larger evil actPower of the situation

Heroism can occur as well as evil

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What Predicts Conformity?

Group Size 3 to 5 people will elicit more conformity than

just 1 or 2Groups greater in size than 5 yields

diminishing returns Unanimity

Observing another’s dissent can increase our own independence

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What Predicts Conformity?

Cohesion“We feeling”; extent to which members of a

group are bound together, such as by attraction for one another The more cohesive a group is, the more power it

gains over its members

StatusHigher-status people tend to have more impact

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What Predicts Conformity?

Public ResponsePeople conform more when they must respond

in front of others rather than writing their answers privately

No Prior CommitmentMost people having made a public commitment

stick to it Example:

Teens who make a public virginity-till-marriage pledge become somewhat more likely to remain sexually abstinent

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Why Conform?

Normative InfluenceBased on a person's desire to fulfill others’

expectations, often to gain acceptance Produced by social image

Informational InfluenceOccurring when people accept evidence about

reality provided by other people Produced by desire to be correct

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Who Conforms?

PersonalityIs a poor predictor of conformity; situations are

better Culture

Different cultures socialize people to be more or less socially responsive

Social RolesConforming to expectations is an important

task when taking on a new social role Role reversal

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Do We Ever Want to Be Different?

ReactanceMotive to protect or restore one’s sense of

freedom Arises when someone threatens our freedom of

action

Asserting UniquenessWe act in ways that preserve our sense of

individuality In a group, we are most conscious of how we differ

from others